The Punjabis of Afghanistan

The Punjabis of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 8,900 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group characterized by their rich cultural heritage, agricultural prowess, and vibrant traditions, originating from the Punjab region of South Asia, currently divided between Pakistan and India. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Panjabi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Punjabi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Punjabi
Primary Language(s): Panjabi (pan)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 8,900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024006
View on Joshua Project

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

50%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Panjabi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Punjabi, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Panjabi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Panjabi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2000 Bible League International✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Panjabi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Punjabis:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Punjabis of Afghanistan

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that God will remove obstacles to the gospel so that many will see the hope He offers through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, and be transformed from being enemies to being His friends.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
readPsalm 51:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him, and God will help them to proclaim His praise and declare His goodness all day long.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Punjabi, Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 108182) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

18 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Eastern PunjabisEastern PunjabisUnited Kingdom815,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisUnited States606,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisUnited Arab Emirates333,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
PunjabisPunjabisMalaysia172,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisOman134,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
Eastern PunjabisEastern PunjabisMyanmar78,000Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiFolk Hinduism
PunjabisPunjabisTanzania71,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiHinduism
SikhsSikhsKenya42,500Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisKuwait21,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
PunjabisPunjabisNepal16,500Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiFolk Hinduism
SikhsSikhsFrance16,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisSingapore15,000No Longer UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisSri Lanka13,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
SikhsSikhsThailand11,500Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisDenmark10,000Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPunjabisFiji9,600Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiFolk Hinduism
PunjabisPunjabisAfghanistan8,900Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
Punjabi SikhsPunjabi SikhsBangladesh80Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiSikhism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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